ORCID Profile
0000-0003-0567-4111
Current Organisations
Spanish National Research Council
,
Deakin University
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Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-2012
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-12-2012
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 15-10-2018
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-018-33301-5
Abstract: Songbirds are important models for understanding the mechanisms and fitness consequences of imitative vocal learning. Although the effects of early-life environmental and social conditions on song learning are well-established, the impact of early sound exposure has received surprisingly little attention. Yet recent evidence hints at auditory sensitivity in songbird embryos, including in the zebra finch ( Taeniopygia guttata ), a classic model species for song learning. Here, we tested whether prenatal exposure to incubation calls—highly rhythmic parental vocalisations produced on the nest—affected song learning in zebra finches. Embryos were exposed in the egg to either incubation (treatment) or contact (control) calls, and after hatching were reared in a large colony. The playback treatment did not affect song complexity nor the accuracy of song copying from the social father, but instead increased learning of non-paternal song syllables. This, in turn, improved males’ mounting success in mating trials. These effects may be attributable to changes in juvenile social behaviours, as playback also influenced male behaviour during mating trials. Our study provides the first experimental evidence that prenatal acoustic environment affects song learning and courtship behaviour in songbirds, thereby raising interesting questions on the role of innate versus acquired biases for vocal learning.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2021
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-07-2017
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-017-00112-7
Abstract: The ratites are a distinctive clade of flightless birds, typified by the emu and ostrich that have acquired a range of unique anatomical characteristics since erging from basal Aves at least 100 million years ago. The emu possesses a vestigial wing with a single digit and greatly reduced forelimb musculature. However, the embryological basis of wing reduction and other anatomical changes associated with loss of flight are unclear. Here we report a previously unknown co-option of the cardiac transcription factor Nkx2.5 to the forelimb in the emu embryo, but not in ostrich, or chicken and zebra finch, which have fully developed wings. Nkx2.5 is expressed in emu limb bud mesenchyme and maturing wing muscle, and mis-expression of Nkx2.5 throughout the limb bud in chick results in wing reductions. We propose that Nkx2.5 functions to inhibit early limb bud expansion and later muscle growth during development of the vestigial emu wing.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2020
DOI: 10.1016/J.YGCEN.2020.113403
Abstract: Animals have well-documented in idual differences in their behaviour, including in their response to stressful stimuli. The physiological bases for the repeatability of these traits has been the focus of much research in recent years, in an attempt to explain the mechanistic drivers for behavioral syndromes. Whilst a range of studies have demonstrated repeatable in idual differences in physiological traits, little is known about potential trade-offs between reproductive investment and the physiological responses to subsequent stressors. We therefore sought to test the behavioral and physiological responses of male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) to a novel environment, quantifying a series of repeated "temporal reaction norms" before and after reproduction. Given that reproductive investment is costly both in time and energy, it is likely to affect expression of behavioral and physiological traits. We hypothesised that reproductive investment would impact the consistency of these temporal reaction norms. Specifically, we predicted that in iduals which invested more in reproduction would show altered rates of habituation to a stressful stimulus. Therefore, we quantified temporal reaction norm components (i.e., intercept and slope) of two behaviours and metabolic rate (MR) within and among in iduals before and after a breeding season. We found that in iduals consistently differed in how their locomotor and feeding activity increased upon introduction into a novel environment and also how their MR decreased after being handled and confined within the metabolic chamber. We also found that the slope of the feeding activity reaction norm was negatively correlated with stress-induced corticosterone levels at the within-in idual level. Finally, in contrast to our prediction, we found that neither the intercept nor slope of the reaction norms were influenced by the reproductive effort (the number of fledglings produced) displayed by in idual males. This suggests that the substantial in idual variation in the expression of physiological and behavioural traits is not plastic with respect to the immediate consequences of reproductive investment. This study is the first quantification of metabolic rate reaction norms and their relationships with fitness, which represents an important first step towards understanding the evolutionary significance of instantaneous habituation to stressful and novel situations.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 02-11-2020
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-12-2019
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-12-2016
DOI: 10.1111/ETH.12576
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-12-2018
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-018-35853-Y
Abstract: Sound is arguably the external cue most accessible to embryos of many species, and as such may constitute an unrivalled source of early information. Recent evidence shows that prenatal sounds, similarly to maternal effects, may shape developmental trajectories. Establishing whether parental vocalisations are signals directed at embryos, or parental cues on which embryos eavesdrop, can elucidate whether parents or embryos control developmental outcomes. Prenatal exposure to a characteristic heat-related parental call was recently shown to alter zebra finch growth and fitness. Here, we test the ecological context of this behaviour in the wild, and assess the information value and specificity of this vocalisation for an embryonic audience. We show that wild zebra finches also produce this characteristic call, only at high temperatures. In addition, in the lab, we demonstrate experimentally that calling is specifically triggered by high air temperatures, can occur without an embryonic audience, and importantly, is predicted by in iduals’ body mass. Overall, our findings reveal a specialised heat vocalisation that enables embryonic eavesdropping, by indicating high ambient temperatures, and parents’ capacity to cope with such conditions. This challenges the traditional view of embryos as passive agents of their development, and opens exciting research avenues on avian adaptation to extreme heat.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 22-04-2019
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 19-08-2016
Abstract: In many species, embryos can perceive and learn external sounds. Yet, the possibility that parents may use these embryonic capacities to alter their offspring’s developmental trajectories has not been considered. Here, we demonstrate that zebra finch parents acoustically signal high ambient temperatures (above 26°C) to their embryos. We show that exposure of embryos to these acoustic cues alone adaptively alters subsequent nestling begging and growth in response to nest temperature and influences in iduals’ reproductive success and thermal preferences as adults. These findings have implications for our understanding of maternal effects, phenotypic plasticity, developmental programming, and the adaptation of endothermic species to a warming world.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-2015
DOI: 10.1071/MU14059
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-10-2017
DOI: 10.1111/JEB.13181
Abstract: The most commonly documented morphological response across many taxa to climatic variation across their range follows Bergmann's rule, which predicts larger body size in colder climates. In observational data from wild zebra finches breeding across a range of temperatures in the spring and summer, we show that this relationship appears to be driven by the negative effect of high temperatures during development. This idea was then experimentally tested on zebra finches breeding in temperature-controlled climates in the laboratory. These experiments confirmed that those in idualso produced in a hot environment (30 °C) were smaller than those produced in cool conditions (18 °C). Our results suggest a proximate causal link between temperature and body size and suggest that a hotter climate during breeding periods could drive significant changes in morphology within and between populations. This effect could account for much of the variation in body size that drives the well-observed patterns first described by Bergmann and that is still largely attributed to selection on adult body size during cold winters. The climate-dependent developmental plasticity that we have demonstrated is an important component in understanding how endotherms may be affected by climate change.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 13-11-2015
DOI: 10.1111/BIJ.12705
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 29-11-2016
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-2020
DOI: 10.1111/JAV.02356
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 03-11-2020
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-020-75909-6
Abstract: Animals thriving in hot deserts rely on extraordinary adaptations and thermoregulatory capacities to cope with heat. Uncovering such adaptations, and how they may be favoured by selection, is essential for predicting climate change impacts. Recently, the arid-adapted zebra finch was discovered to program their offspring’s development for heat, by producing ‘heat-calls’ during incubation in hot conditions. Intriguingly, heat-calls always occur during panting and, strikingly, avian evaporative cooling mechanisms typically involve vibrating an element of the respiratory tract, which could conceivably produce sound. Therefore, we tested whether heat-call emission results from a particular thermoregulatory mechanism increasing the parent’s heat tolerance. We repeatedly measured resting metabolic rate, evaporative water loss (EWL) and heat tolerance in adult wild-derived captive zebra finches (n = 44) at increasing air temperatures up to 44 °C. We found high within-in idual repeatability in thermoregulatory patterns, with heat-calling triggered at an in idual-specific stage of panting. As expected for thermoregulatory mechanisms, both silent panting and heat-calling significantly increased EWL. However, only heat-calling resulted in greater heat tolerance, demonstrating that “vocal panting” brings a thermoregulatory benefit to the emitter. Our findings therefore not only improve our understanding of the evolution of passerine thermal adaptations, but also highlight a novel evolutionary precursor for acoustic signals.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 18-12-2016
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2012
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 2010
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 22-11-2019
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 2020
Abstract: Intense heat waves are occurring more frequently, with concomitant increases in the risk of catastrophic avian mortality events via lethal dehydration or hyperthermia. We quantified the risks of lethal hyperthermia and dehydration for 10 Australian arid-zone avifauna species during the 21st century, by synthesizing thermal physiology data on evaporative water losses and heat tolerance limits. We evaluated risks of lethal hyperthermia or exceedance of dehydration tolerance limits in the absence of drinking during the hottest part of the day under recent climatic conditions, compared to those predicted for the end of this century across Australia. Increases in mortality risk via lethal dehydration and hyperthermia vary among the species modelled here but will generally increase greatly, particularly in smaller species (~10–42 g) and those inhabiting the far western parts of the continent. By 2100 CE, zebra finches’ potential exposure to acute lethal dehydration risk will reach ~ 100 d y−1 in the far northwest of Australia and will exceed 20 d y−1 over & 50% of this species’ current range. Risks of dehydration and hyperthermia will remain much lower for large non-passerines such as crested pigeons. Risks of lethal hyperthermia will also increase substantially for smaller species, particularly if they are forced to visit exposed water sources at very high air temperatures to avoid dehydration. An analysis of atlas data for zebra finches suggests that population declines associated with very hot conditions are already occurring in the hottest areas. Our findings suggest that the likelihood of persistence within current species ranges, and the potential for range shifts, will become increasingly constrained by temperature and access to drinking water. Our model adds to an increasing body of literature suggesting that arid environments globally will experience considerable losses of avifauna and bio ersity under unmitigated climate change scenarios.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-07-2010
DOI: 10.1111/J.1420-9101.2010.02042.X
Abstract: In recent years, it has become evident that frequency dependence in the attractiveness of a particular phenotype to mates can contribute to the maintenance of polymorphism. However, these preferences for rare and unfamiliar male phenotypes have only been demonstrated in small, controlled experiments. Here, we tested the preference for unfamiliar mates in groups of six to 96 in iduals over 13 days, in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata). We observed in idual behaviour in situ to test whether fish discriminate two unfamiliar in iduals among many familiar ones. We found that unfamiliar males and females were preferred over the familiar fishes in all groups and that this effect decayed over time. Increasing group sizes and levels of sexual activity did not h er the preference for unfamiliar mates, providing further support for the role of frequency dependent mate choice in the maintenance of trait polymorphism in natural populations.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.YHBEH.2015.03.011
Abstract: This article is part of a Special Issue "SBN 2014". Photoperiod and the hormonal response it triggers are key determinants of reproductive timing in birds. However, other cues and physiological traits may permit flexibility in the timing of breeding and perhaps facilitate adaptation to global change. Opportunistic breeders are excellent models to study the adaptive significance of this flexibility, especially at the in idual level. Here, we sought to quantify whether particular male physiological and behavioral traits were linked to reproductive timing and output in wild-derived zebra finches. We repeatedly assessed male stress-induced corticosterone levels (CORT), basal metabolic rate (BMR), and activity before releasing them into outdoor aviaries and quantifying each pair's breeding timing, investment, and output over a seven-month period. Despite unlimited access to food and water, the colony breeding activity occurred in waves, probably due to interpair social stimulations. Pairs adjusted their inter-clutch interval and clutch size to social and temperature cues, respectively, but only after successful breeding attempts, suggesting a facultative response to external cues. When these effects were controlled for statistically or experimentally, breeding intervals were repeatable within in iduals across reproductive attempts. In addition, males' first laying date and total offspring production varied with complex interactions between pre-breeding CORT, BMR and activity levels. These results suggest that no one trait is under selection but that, instead, correlational selection acts on hormone levels, metabolism, and behavior. Together our results suggest that studying inter-in idual variation in breeding strategy and their multiple physiological and behavioral underpinnings may greatly improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the evolution of breeding decisions.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2021
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2010
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-2013
DOI: 10.1890/12-0572.1
Abstract: The foraging benefits of coloniality, whereby colony members exchange information about food location, have been suggested as a primary factor influencing the evolution of coloniality. However, despite its longstanding popularity, this hypothesis has rarely been tested experimentally. Here, we conducted a field experiment in the wild Zebra Finch Taeniopygia guttata to test whether colonial birds are better at finding food than solitary in iduals. We manipulated food patch location and directly measured foraging activity of many colonial and solitary parents at those patches using an electronic monitoring system. We provided nesting sites in excess to alleviate nest site competition and manipulated brood size to eliminate the possible correlation between brood size, nesting density, and in idual quality (including foraging activity). We found that solitary birds found experimental food patches first, closely followed by colonial birds. Moreover, solitary parents adjusted the amount of food per nestling to experimental brood size, whereas colonial parents did not, although overall, nestlings were fed more per capita in colonial than in solitary nests. In addition, brood size and, to a lesser extent, nesting density negatively affected nestling growth. Therefore, with the effect of provisioning rate, sibling competition, and cost of coloniality combined, nestling mass was not affected by the brood manipulation in solitary nests, whereas nestlings were lighter in enlarged than in reduced broods in colonies. Our resultstherefore suggest that in iduals settling in solitary nests were intrinsically better foragers and more optimal parents. While they do not invalidate the possibility of information transfer at colonies, our findings highlight the importance of considering settlement bias in future studies and add to the existing evidence that the effects of nesting density on fitness are both complex and multiple.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 19-01-2009
DOI: 10.1111/J.1420-9101.2008.01656.X
Abstract: Divergent selection pressures among populations can result not only in significant differentiation in morphology, physiology and behaviour, but also in how these traits are related to each other, thereby driving the processes of local adaptation and speciation. In the Australian zebra finch, we investigated whether domesticated stock, bred in captivity over tens of generations, differ in their response to a life-history manipulation, compared to birds taken directly from the wild. In a 'common aviary' experiment, we thereto experimentally manipulated the environmental conditions experienced by nestlings early in life by means of a brood size manipulation, and subsequently assessed its short- and long-term consequences on growth, ornamentation, immune function and reproduction. As expected, we found that early environmental conditions had a marked effect on both short- and long-term morphological and life-history traits in all birds. However, although there were pronounced differences between wild and domesticated birds with respect to the absolute expression of many of these traits, which are indicative of the different selection pressures wild and domesticated birds were exposed to in the recent past, manipulated rearing conditions affected morphology and ornamentation of wild and domesticated finches in a very similar way. This suggests that despite significant differentiation between wild and domesticated birds, selection has not altered the relationships among traits. Thus, life-history strategies and investment trade-offs may be relatively stable and not easily altered by selection. This is a reassuring finding in the light of the widespread use of domesticated birds in studies of life-history evolution and sexual selection, and suggests that adaptive explanations may be legitimate when referring to captive bird studies.
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 22-09-2013
Abstract: Social interactions with adults are often critical for the development of mating behaviours. However, the potential role of other primary social partners such as juvenile counterparts is rarely considered. Most interestingly, it is not known whether interactions with juvenile females improve males’ courtship and whether, similar to the winner and loser effects in a fighting context—outcome of these interactions shapes males’ behaviour in future encounters. We investigated the combined effects of male quality and juvenile social experience on pairing success at adulthood in zebra finches ( Taeniopygia guttata ). We manipulated brood size to alter male quality and then placed males in either same- or mixed-sex juvenile dyads until adulthood. We found that males from reduced broods obtained more copulations and males from mixed-sex dyads had more complete courtships. Furthermore, independent of their quality, males that failed to pair with juvenile females, but not juvenile males, had a lower pairing success at adulthood. Our study shows that negative social experience with peers during adolescence may be a potent determinant of pairing success that can override the effects of early environmental conditions on male attractiveness and thereby supports the occurrence of an analogous process to the loser effect in a mating context.
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 08-12-2021
Abstract: Sound is an essential source of information in many taxa and can notably be used by embryos to programme their phenotypes for postnatal environments. While underlying mechanisms are mostly unknown, there is growing evidence for the involvement of mitochondria—main source of cellular energy (i.e. ATP)—in developmental programming processes. Here, we tested whether prenatal sound programmes mitochondrial metabolism. In the arid-adapted zebra finch, prenatal exposure to ‘heat-calls’—produced by parents incubating at high temperatures—adaptively alters nestling growth in the heat. We measured red blood cell mitochondrial function, in nestlings exposed prenatally to heat- or control-calls, and reared in contrasting thermal environments. Exposure to high temperatures always reduced mitochondrial ATP production efficiency. However, as expected to reduce heat production, prenatal exposure to heat-calls improved mitochondrial efficiency under mild heat conditions. In addition, when exposed to an acute heat-challenge, LEAK respiration was higher in heat-call nestlings, and mitochondrial efficiency low across temperatures. Consistent with its role in reducing oxidative damage, LEAK under extreme heat was also higher in fast growing nestlings. Our study therefore provides the first demonstration of mitochondrial acoustic sensitivity, and brings us closer to understanding the underpinning of acoustic developmental programming and avian strategies for heat adaptation.
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 27-08-2021
DOI: 10.3389/FCELL.2021.735203
Abstract: During embryonic gonadal development, the supporting cell lineage is the first cell type to differentiate, giving rise to Sertoli cells in the testis and pre-granulosa cells in the ovary. These cells are thought to direct other gonadal cell lineages down the testis or ovarian pathways, including the germline. Recent research has shown that, in contrast to mouse, chicken gonadal supporting cells derive from a PAX2/OSR1/DMRT1/WNT4 positive mesenchymal cell population. These cells colonize the undifferentiated genital ridge during early gonadogenesis, around the time that germ cells migrate into the gonad. During the process of somatic gonadal sex differentiation, PAX2 expression is down-regulated in embryonic chicken gonads just prior to up-regulation of testis- and ovary-specific markers and prior to germ cell differentiation. Most research on avian gonadal development has focused on the chicken model, and related species from the Galloanserae clade. There is a lack of knowledge on gonadal sex differentiation in other avian lineages. Comparative analysis in birds is required to fully understand the mechanisms of avian sex determination and gonadal differentiation. Here we report the first comparative molecular characterization of gonadal supporting cell differentiation in birds from each of the three main clades, Galloanserae (chicken and quail), Neoaves (zebra finch) and Palaeognathe (emu). Our analysis reveals conservation of PAX2 + expression and a mesenchymal origin of supporting cells in each clade. Moreover, down-regulation of PAX2 expression precisely defines the onset of gonadal sex differentiation in each species. Altogether, these results indicate that gonadal morphogenesis is conserved among the major bird clades.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 22-07-2019
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-04-2022
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-022-09761-1
Abstract: Understanding animal physiological adaptations for tolerating heat, and the causes of inter-in idual variation, is key for predicting climate change impacts on bio ersity. Recently, a novel mechanism for transgenerational heat adaptation was identified in a desert-adapted bird, where parents acoustically signal hot conditions to embryos. Prenatal exposure to “heat-calls” adaptively alters zebra finch development and their thermal preferences in adulthood, suggesting a long-term shift towards a heat-adapted phenotype. However, whether such acoustic experience improves long-term thermoregulatory capacities is unknown. We measured metabolic rate (MR), evaporative water loss (EWL) and body temperature in adults exposed to a stepped profile of progressively higher air temperatures (T a ) between 27 and 44 °C. Remarkably, prenatal acoustic experience affected heat tolerance at adulthood, with heat-call exposed in iduals more likely to reach the highest T a in morning trials. This was despite MR and EWL reaching higher levels at the highest T a in heat-call in iduals, partly driven by a stronger metabolic effect of moderate activity. At lower T a , however, heat-call exposed in iduals had greater relative water economy, as expected. They also better recovered mass lost during morning trials. We therefore provide the first evidence that prenatal acoustic signals have long-term consequences for heat tolerance and physiological adaptation to heat.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2021
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 2011
Publisher: Brill
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1163/1568539X-00003372
Abstract: The formation of social bonds outside the mated pair is not frequently reported in monogamous birds, although it may be expected in some species like rooks, living in groups all year round. Here we explore the social structure of captive adult rooks over three breeding seasons. We recorded proximities and affiliations (i.e., allofeeding, allopreening, contact-sit) to classify relationships according to their strength. Three categories of relationships emerged: primary (i.e., pairs), secondary and weak relationships. Affiliations and sexual behaviours were not restricted to pairs, and secondary relationships were clearly recognizable. Mixed-sex secondary relationships were qualitatively equivalent to pairs (i.e., same behaviours in the same proportions), although they were quantitatively less intense. Same sex pairs occurred, and were qualitatively equivalent to mixed-sex pairs. Overall we found that rooks social structure is more than just an aggregation of pairs, which highlights the importance of considering extra-pair relationships in socially monogamous birds.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-06-2006
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2022
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2010
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2020
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date: 02-2015
DOI: 10.1086/679441
Abstract: Sexual conflict over parental care relies on the fundamental assumption that parents do not share the cost of their partner's effort on future reproduction. However, this is unlikely to be true whenever partners breed together more than once. In that case, in iduals should try to optimize the cost and benefits for the pair, rather than only for themselves. Here we seek to establish whether the synchronization of parents' provisioning visits to the nest could fulfill this function. We conducted a brood-size manipulation experiment on wild zebra finches to test whether nest visit synchrony was flexible and beneficial for nestlings' growth, while controlling for the confounding effects of pair "quality" and synchrony away from the nest during foraging. Using a network of readers to track parents at nests and feeding stations, we found that nest visit synchrony responded directly to the brood manipulation and increased with brood size. Synchrony at the nest and while foraging were correlated, but the latter better predicted nestling mass, possibly because it was associated with more regular provisioning patterns. Our findings suggest that parental coordination could indeed play an important role in partners' investment decisions, underpinning the evolution of the most prominent mating system in birds.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 12-2008
DOI: 10.1071/MU08033
No related grants have been discovered for Mylene Mariette.